BOYS HOOPS: MA throttles St. James; Valiant Cross takes down Southern

Montgomery Academy’s Skyler Stovall looks to pass against St. James’ Evan Richardson during the MA win on Friday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

There was a point in Friday’s game between St. James and Montgomery Academy when the Trojans had a chance to cut the lead to a point before a Montgomery Academy run helped the Eagles out to a double-digit lead.

It’s been a recurring theme for the Trojans this season, who have struggled for offensively consistency. As a result, the Eagles maintained a double-digit lead but never firmly established control until the final minutes of a 57-38 win over the Trojans in the St. James gym.

St. James coach Nigel Card praised his team’s effort, but noted “they’re experienced and we’re inexperienced,” adding that his team’s lack of consistency on offense has cost the Trojans this year as they dropped to 0-7.   

Montgomery Academy (15-6), meanwhile, improved to 2-0 in 3A Area 6 action, a game ahead of Trinity (1-1) and Alabama Christian (1-1) and two games ahead of the Trojans (0-2) as the Eagles’ experience paid off down the stretch.

“I think there were a couple of moments in the game where we could have stretched it out,” Montgomery Academy coach Jeremy Arant said. “They do a good job of playing that 2-3 zone and mixing in their man-to-man every now and then and if you don’t make some shots from the perimeter, they’re going to keep it close. That’s something they’ve been really good at ever since I’ve been here. Coach Card’s teams are always in the game and it’s always close. They can beat anybody on any night.”

A 3-pointer by Tabor Offord to open the fourth quarter cut the MA lead to nine points, but the Eagles turned to DJ Vinson on back-to-back possessions to push the lead back to 13 points. 

“We intentionally went to him four possessions in a row right there in the fourth quarter,” Arant said. “He converted all of them for us. He was big inside. We have a lot of size and when we can get around the basket and utilize that, we’re tough.”

Vinson led the Eagles with 23 points, 14 rebounds, four steals and a blocked shot. Skyler Stovall added 11 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals, followed by Seth Edwards with 10 points, seven rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot, Cole Caddell with six points, six rebounds and five steals and Brewer Welch with three points, seven assists and five steals. 

Offord led the Trojans with 18 points, followed by Clint Houser with 11, Evan Richardson with five and Paxton Wingard with three.

Valiant Cross Academy 65, Southern 36

CAMP HILL -- Deshawn Hall had 27 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots as the Warriors defeated Southern Prep 65-36 on Friday night. 

Valiant Cross is currently in fourth place in Class AAA Region 1 at 4-3. Lee-Scott leads the region at 4-0, followed by Springwood (4-1), Glenwood (4-2), Valiant Cross, Macon East (1-4) and Southern Prep (0-7).

Valiant Cross (15-4) will face Evangel Christian School of Alabaster on Monday, then Lee-Scott in another region game on Friday. 

Prattville Christian 66, Dallas County 32

PRATTVILLE -- Cade Segars hit 10 3-pointers to lead PCA to a 66-32 win over Dallas County in a 4A Area 5 matchup in the PCA gym. 

Segars finished with 32 points and five rebounds, followed by Brady Roberson with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists and PJ Evans with six points, seven rebounds and five assists. Justin Chapman and Lathan Rybarczyk each added four points and eight rebounds, while Collier Connell had three points and four rebounds. 

PCA (11-11) improved to 2-0 in area play and will play host to BTW Magnet on Tuesday in another area game.

Trinity 62, Alabama Christian Academy 51

Mac Stewart scored all 15 of his points in the second half, going 13 for 15 at the free-throw line in the second half to help the Wildcats hold off the Eagles 62-51 in the ACA gym on Friday night.

Trinity and Alabama Christian are both 1-1 in 3A Area 6 play, a game behind Montgomery Academy (2-0) and a game ahead of St. James (0-2). 

The game was evenly contested throughout, with Trinity holding a slim 26-24 lead at the half and a 40-39 lead heading into the final period. The Wildcats would hit 13 of 15 free throws in the fourth quarter, getting two each from Thomas Stewart and John Morris and another from Cooper Bernier, while Mac Stewart went 8 of 10 in the fourth quarter to offset 3-pointers from ACA’s Samuel Davidson and Connor Mark.

Morris led the Wildcats with 17 points, followed by Mac Stewart with 15 and Cayson Keller with 14.

Mac Moorer led the Eagles with 17 points, hitting three 3-pointers in the second quarter to pull his team back into the contest. Darrius Gardner added 14 points, followed by Tyree Saadiq with 10.

Trinity (12-5) will play at St. James on Tuesday and at Montgomery Academy on Friday in a pair of area games, while ACA will play host to Montgomery Academy on Tuesday.  

Catholic 52, LAMP 40

JJ Williams and Jayden Phifer combined for 36 points as the Knights evened their area record with a 52-40 win over LAMP in PICE Arena on Friday night.

Williams scored 18 points with the help of four 3-pointers and added a pair of assists in the win. Phifer had 18 points, five rebounds and a pair of steals, hitting three 3-pointers against the Golden Tigers. 

Catholic (8-5) improved to 1-1 in 4A Area 5 play and will travel to Bullock County on Tuesday and LAMP on Friday for a pair of area games. 

Autauga Academy 57, Hooper Academy 51

PRATTVILLE -- Damien Dickerson had 22 points, five steals, two assists and three rebounds to lead the Generals to a 57-51 win over the Colts in the Autauga gym on Friday night.

Autauga Academy evened its Class AA Region 1 Area 2 record at 1-1, a game behind Edgewood (2-0) and a game ahead of Hooper (0-2). 

Cam Wright added 11 points, three steals, five assists and six rebounds for the Generals, while Colin Edwards had 13 points. 

Hooper (11-5) travels to Lowndesboro to play Lowndes Academy on Tuesday.

Autauga Academy 44, Macon East Academy 30

PRATTVILLE -- Keagan Roney had a double-double for Macon East but it wasn’t enough for the Knights as they fell to the Generals 44-30 in the Autauga Academy gym on Wednesday night. 

Roney had 11 points, 12 rebounds and a steal for the Knights.

Springwood School 56, Valiant Cross 55

Valiant Cross came up a point short in its game with Springwood on Tuesday as the Wildcats swept the season series with the Warriors on Tuesday night. 

Deshawn Hall led Valiant Cross Academy (13-4) with 27 points and 15 rebounds. The Warriors dropped to 2-3 in region play with the loss.